


These Perfect Moments

by 1975reasons



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Adoption, All the Smut, Alternate Universe - Domestic, Babies, Domestic, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, M/M, Marriage, Marriage Proposal, Same-Sex Marriage, Smut, hella cute, larry stylinson - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-03
Updated: 2016-07-03
Packaged: 2018-07-19 13:17:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,640
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7362871
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/1975reasons/pseuds/1975reasons
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A look at some of the most important times in the lives of the Styles-Tomlinsons.</p>
            </blockquote>





	These Perfect Moments

**Author's Note:**

  * For [LycorisLife](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LycorisLife/gifts).



“Harry! Harry! Where in the hell did you put my kickboard?”

“I don’t know Lou, check under the basket in the hatchback!”

“If you don’t hurry, Haz, we’re not going to get a spot at the beach! Hustle!”

“Okay, okay! I’ll be there in just a second! Let me finish applying my tanning lotion-“

“HAZ, NOW!”

\---------------

This reminded Harry of their wedding day.  Louis was always terrified they were going to be late; he had been that way since the beginning.  It was probably because he was always taking too long to get ready, and by the time Harry got into the bathroom to do his business, he was being rushed because Louis had spent twenty minutes too long trying to style his mess of hair.  Their wedding day was no different.  Louis and Harry got up at 9, the wedding was at 1, and they didn’t leave the house until 12:00. They were almost late to their own wedding because Lou washed his hair twice to get it to come out the way he wanted.  But, somehow, it was Harry’s fault for needing to squeeze into the bathroom ten minutes before they had to go because, well, _he_ had to go and Louis had been hogging the bathroom all day. Despite that, though, it was still the day he married his best friend.  It was the best day of his life.

They had been wed at this quaint little farm outside the city, just before dusk.  The sun hit the trees surrounding them and framed them in a beam of light only equivalent to Harry’s personality.  Lou did occasionally call him sunshine. They had Nando’s cater the entire thing, just to convince Niall to come. Of course he would have come anyway, but he pretended like he wouldn’t unless they had his favorite restaurant handle their big occasion.  Anyway, they had a perfect ceremony, surrounded by close family and friends. 

\---------------

That was about a year and a half ago now, and they were getting ready to take two big steps at once.  It made Harry smile to think about how far they had come since meeting all those years ago.  They had been running around, busting their asses, between work and house-hunting and then trying to move, and furnish a new house.  They were excited, but it was exhausting, everything at once.  They were glad to have the day off to go to the beach.

They get on the road and to the beach, ready to relax.  They find a nice spot, spread out their towels and head down to the water.  They both like to swim, and they both like to mess with each other, so it wasn’t long until their midday soak turned into a splash war.  They really were the cutest couple on the beach, and probably in southern England.

They were sunbathing when Harry’s phone rang.  He looked at the caller ID, and his heart immediately started pounding.

“Hey, Lou, it’s Zara,” he said, and Louis perked up immediately. Harry answered the phone, gulping a little bit.  “Hi Zara! How are you?”

“I’m good Harry! I was just calling to let you know that it could be any day now, so just be ready for the call,” she said. “I’m so excited for you and Louis! I can’t wait.”

“Alright, thanks for the heads-up, Zar. We’ll be waiting to hear back!” He hung up the phone and smiled at Louis. “She said it could be any day,” he said.

“Really? It seems like that was really fast.”

“Well, babe, when you’re having twins, they come early pretty often.”

\---------------

They had had the talk about a year ago.  It was a big part of why Harry wanted to get married, on top of the fact that he was mad for Louis, of course, so Louis knew the conversation was bound to happen.  He just hadn't imagined it would be so soon.

“Do you wanna have a baby?” He asked Lou, very causally, over a plate of spaghetti.

Louis was a little taken aback. He always knew Harry wanted kids, but this soon? They’d only been married a few months.

“I don’t know, Haz. Don’t you think it’s a little soon?”

“Lou, I knew I wanted to raise a baby with you the first time I saw you,” Harry replied, shoving noodles in his mouth. Louis was floored at how casual he was being.

“I know, Hazza, but we don’t even have room for a baby here.”

“Then let’s buy a house.”

“Really?” Louis asked. “You really wanna take on all that at once?” Louis had been complaining for months about how cramped they were in their one-bedroom flat, but he never dreamed of moving out that soon. He always thought Harry was too sentimental and would hold on as long as he could.

“Yeah, I mean, I wouldn’t mind to do it with you,” he said. “I know you feel like we don’t have enough space here, so I figured you might want to find a bigger place anyway.  If we opt for space, why not find a place with space for a baby?”

Lou nodded a little. “I guess that seems sensible. I mean, we were going to do it eventually…. Hell, I guess we’ll do it Harry.”

Harry nearly choked. “I didn’t think it would be that easy to convince you! I thought it would take weeks, Lou. I’m so glad it didn’t.” He got up and wrapped his arms around Lou, nuzzling into the back of his neck.

“Well, let’s look at the postings then, and find a house, and a baby.”

\---------------

It didn’t take them long to find a mother they were going to adopt from.  A lot less time than it normally takes, especially for a gay couple.  But, one of Louis’ co-worker’s daughter was pregnant and just wasn’t ready to be, so the stars fell in place and it happened. They met with her a few times, just to make sure it was the real deal, because it just felt too good to be true.  But, it was.  They were going to have a baby.  Then the first appointment came.

“Okay, Harry, calm down,” Louis said, trying to help Harry quell his nervousness.  He was nearly hyperventilating at the realness of their situation.  Of course he was excited; he was over-excited, to be exact.  And they were in the parking lot of the women’s center, trying to get their bearings together and look like normal people walking in. 

“But, Lou, _we’re getting a baby!!!!_ How aren’t you excited?”

“I am, Hazza, but I’m not hyperventilating because that’s really bad for your brain and it can make you pass out, so you need to calm down, baby.”

“Lou, I can’t! WE’RE GETTING A BABY!”

Louis sighed. “Yes, Harry. We’re getting a baby. But there are better ways to express your excitement. Like, for example, writing about it, singing about it, exercising, calling your loved ones, et cetera. You don’t need to hyperventilate.”

After Harry finally calmed down, they went inside and met Zara, and the doctor, and the sonogram technician, and Harry had to introduce himself as “this little one’s Daddy” (while pointing to Zara’s stomach) to everyone. And to everyone, Louis was, “Da,” so it wasn’t too close to Daddy.  Everyone was very congratulatory, it was really nice. 

So they did all the intake, they took all the blood levels, and they laid Zara down on one of those weird bed/table things, and rubbed that weird gel all over her abdomen.  At that point, Harry was clinging onto Lou for dear life, squeezing his hand like a stress ball ready to explode.  Louis was trying to remain cool on the outside for his husband, but he was so nervous and happy and concerned and eager that he was barely holding it together. When the screen turned on, Harry nearly screamed. When they heard the heartbeat, he nearly fainted.

“There’s two heartbeats, gentlemen,” the sonogram tech said, smiling. “It looks like you’re having twins.”

Harry started to hyperventilate again. “Twins? We’re getting TWO BABIES?”

Louis tried to find words to calm his husband down, but his mouth just stayed agape, silent, as he stared at the screen and listened to his babies’ heartbeats. _His babies. **Babies.**_ Two babies.

\---------------

Now they were seven and a half months deep in baby city.  They had been buying shit, returning shit, gifted shit, returned more shit, you know how it goes when there’s a baby on the way.  They looked and looked and looked for a place.  It took nearly four months to find one and another to close the deal, then a sixth to get the sellers out.  It was their last weekend before they were moving everything, so they had decided a beach outing would be a good way to de-stress before the big move. So they spent the day there, getting too much sun and driving home with sand in their trunks, dying to get their hands on one another.

They pulled up in the carpark, grabbed their beach stuff and headed upstairs to the flat. 

“Come on, Louis! Open the door faster,” Harry chuckled, smacking his well-endowed spouse on the ass.  “I’ve been ready for this all fucking day.”

“If you would help me carry a little bit of this stuff, maybe I could unlock this door faster, but I’m currently drowning in beach balls and other inflatable water novelties,” Louis replied, matter-of-factly.

“I’m carrying important things,” he responded to Louis’ criticism. “I’ve got the camera, and the cooler, which is still half-full of alcohol, mind you.”

“Haz, you nerd, the cooler is on wheels! All you have to do is roll it!”

Louis finally got the door unlocked and managed to put the mountain of stuff he was carrying down before Harry got in behind him.  He immediately snaked his long arms around Louis’ waist, kissing his neck. “Come to bed with me,” he whispered.

“Mmm, babe, we need to shower. I’m covered in sand, and I know you are,” Lou protested.

“Okay, come to the shower with me,” Harry countered. Louis sighed and followed as Harry pulled him by his arm into the bathroom.  He turned the water on to warm up, and peeled Louis’ swim trunks off, spilling sand all over the tile floor.  “Damn, babe, you weren’t kidding about the sand,” he said, trying not to laugh.

“I told you!” Louis kicked off his trunks and stepped into the shower, waiting for Harry to do the same.  He was honestly really glad that he could finally rinse all this sand off – it was starting to chafe his skin and it hurt. But now, Harry was here, touching his skin, running his fingers along his spine, and he forgot about the sand.  He felt Harry behind him, kissing his neck lightly.  The way Harry always touched him, so gently and carefully, as if her were a porcelain doll ready to break, made him melt.  He sunk back into his husband, feeling Harry’s warm skin on his back, and sighed. 

“Babe, you’re always so good to me,” Louis mumbled.  He turned around and kissed Harry, snaking his arms around Harry’s neck and pulling his hair.  “You always know what I want.”

“I know, Lou, that’s why you married me,” Harry whispered, then returned his partner’s kiss.  He dropped his hands to Louis’ waist as they continued kissing, letting the lukewarm water run over them.  Harry moves his mouth down Louis’ collar-bone, soliciting a moan from him.  He felt Louis gripping his hair harder, and he knew he was turning him on.  Louis pulled him closer.

“No, you knew that I wanted that before I did, too.”

\--------------

Louis remembered how Harry had brought up marriage.  That was always a word Louis was a little scared of.  He never saw himself as a married guy.  Even if he was with someone long-term, he never really wanted to get married, to be tied down, whatever.  He had always been kind of a drifter until Harry, and he was happy, of course, but marriage was just not in his gameplan.

But, there they were, laying on the couch, watching _Sweet Home Alabama,_ and he starts commenting on wedding stuff.  The chairs, the floral arrangement, whatever.  Louis just didn’t respond, except for nodding.

“Do you want to get married, Louis?” Harry asked. “Cause I’m kind of getting the vibe that you don’t.”

Louis sighed.  “I don’t know, Harry.”

“That’s a problem for me, Lou. I’ve always seen myself getting married.”

“That’s the thing, Harry – I haven’t.  I love you, and I want to be with you, but what happens when you don’t feel the same anymore? Do we just split up, or do we divorce and split houses and cars and belongings and time with kids in a legal, and really clinical, way?”

Harry sat up a little, looking at Louis.  “Babe, why would that happen? I want to be with you. I know you’re it for me.”

“But how, Harry?” Louis said, exasperated. “How do you know that? How do you know you won’t find anyone else?”

“I just do, Lou. I just know. When I look at you, I see myself sitting out on some porch with you when I’m seventy. I see us celebrating our 50th wedding anniversary at Nando’s just so we can convince Niall to come.  I can see us sitting in the front row, watching our kids get married. I knew on our first date that it was you, Louis. Didn’t you think that too?” Harry asked, tearing up a bit.

“God, Harry, why would you think I didn’t?” Louis asked, getting up and pacing. “Of fucking course I did. I wake up next to you in the morning, and see you, still asleep, and imagine this happening every day for the rest of my life.  I imagine signing a lease on our first car, and eating takeout on the floor after we move into our first house, and seeing your face as you put our first daughter in her crib for the first time. I imagine going through all that shit with you, Harry.” By now he was crying, trying to get all his words out. “I just don’t think you’ll always feel this way.  That’s how it works. And it's not because of you, no. God, you're so perfect, Harry, I just can't ever be enough for you. I’m just not lovable.” He sat down on the floor, leaning against the couch and pulling at his hair, now sobbing.

Harry tried to console his boyfriend, rubbing his back. “Baby, baby, that’s not true,” he said soothingly. “You’re lovable, I love you just fine. I love you just fine now, and I’ll love you just fine forever, married or not.” He got in the floor beside Louis and wrapped his arms around Lou’s smaller frame, pulling him into his chest. “Nothing else matters, except that I love you, and you’re so, so lovable.”

For weeks after that, Harry didn’t bring up marriage again, but Louis couldn’t get it off his mind.  He just kept thinking about how good Harry was to him, how much he was willing to give up for Louis.  Louis just couldn’t get over how considerate and loving Harry was, and he thought that the conversation that night might have changed his mind.  So, he got the nerve up, bought a ring, and carried it in his pocket for a week. 

He made his move on a Friday night, at dinner with their moms at Anne’s house. Of course, she was in on the entire thing, because her and Louis just got along too well for him to spring it on her.  They were just hanging out in the living room, drinking wine, when he asked.

“So, Louis,” Anne asked, “What do your plans look like for this year? You guys have finally finished Uni, so what’s next?” She sipped her wine, trying to hide her smile.

“Well, I was thinking, you know, I just got this job and I’m really excited about it, so I don’t know much else, Anne. I just want to spend it with Harry,” he said, smiling and putting his hand on his boyfriend’s leg.  “I do know, though, what I want to do by the end of next year, though.”

“Oh,  yeah? What’s that?” she asked, prodding.

“Well,” he said, putting his wine glass on the end table, “I want to marry Harry.” He got down on one knee and held out the silver band. “I mean, if you’ll have me, that is, Haz.”

Harry looked down at his boyfriend in disbelief. “Ar-are you sure? Like, are you _really_ sure?”

“Yes, Hazza, I’m sure. I’ve been thinking a lot about it over the last couple of weeks, and I’m really sure. I want to spend not only the next year with you, but every year after that. So, will you?”

Harry started to smile a little. “I mean, yeah. Yeah, I’ll marry you.”

“Oh, thank God,” Louis sighed, standing up and pulling Harry with him to hug him. “I was so afraid you’d say no.”

Harry hugged him tighter. “I’d never say no to marrying you, Louis.”

\---------------

Thinking about all that made Louis realize how much he loves Harry, which just got him hotter.  He was ready to get into it now – he was done with dancing around it. 

“Why don’t we hop out of here and move elsewhere?” Louis says, wrapping his hand around Harry’s length and teasing him, nipping at his neck.

“If you keep doing that, then yes,” Harry obliged.  He switched the tap off and grabbed a towel for the each of them, and they dried off and headed into their bedroom.  Louis didn’t bother wasting time, immediately pushing his husband on the bed and going down on him.  He could hear Harry enjoying himself, holding his breath, then remembering to breathe and panting. He knew it was good when Harry forgot to breathe.  He felt him tangling his fingers into Louis’ wet hair, pushing and pulling with him.  He felt Harry tensing up and knew he was getting close, so he pulled away and motioned towards the nightstand at the lube.  Harry sighed in frustration as he reached over and grabbed the bottle, tossing it at Louis.  Louis smirked at Harry and motioned for him to turn over on his stomach.  Harry obeyed, just as anxious as Louis.  He heard the top open, and then felt the chill of Louis’ skin on his back, and then moaned a little as Louis started to warm him up.  He was getting antsy, so by the fourth finger, he couldn’t take it anymore.

“Just do it already,” he whined.  Louis shook his head at Harry’s impatience.

“Alright, whatever you say.” Louis slicked himself up and down a couple of times and slowly entered Harry, involuntarily groaning at how _fucking good_ it felt.  He leaned down and bit gently into his lover’s shoulder as he thrust his hips. Harry leaned back into Louis’ cool skin, wanting to be in contact with him as much as possible.  Louis planted messy kisses all over the side of his face, breathing hard.  He felt Harry tightening up and pushing back into him, and he knew he was close, so he pushed him through.  Harry threw his head back in ecstasy and moaned so loud it was nearly a scream.  Seeing Harry so blissed out just put Louis over the edge, and he collapsed into Harry as he came.  They laid there for a few minutes, catching their breath, entangled with each other.  Finally, Louis broke the silence.

“You made a mess of the sheets, and I guess we need another shower, so we better get up and do it so we can get to bed. We’re moving tomorrow,” he reminded.

Harry nodded in agreement and unstuck himself from the sheets, then pulled them off the bed.  “I’m so glad we’re doing this together, Lou,” he said, planting a kiss on his cheek as he tossed the dirty linens in the hamper.

“Me too.”

The next morning, they packed their necessities up and waited as the landlord did their walk-through.  They got most of their deposit back (they lost a little bit because of the headboard incident ruining the paint on the wall, but the landlord didn’t ask.  She was over 60 and didn’t care to hear about their young gallivanting.), and the movers arrived a little after to load up the couch and the bedroom furniture.  They turned over their keys and drove a little out of the city to their new home, where they would soon be a family of four.  It was a spacey, two-story traditional home, comfortably removed from the city, but not so far away that they couldn’t still drive in for work.  They had already painted the nursery this really nice, gender-neutral grey.  They had decided not to know the gender of the twins, to make it a surprise.  Harry wanted two girls, and Louis wanted a girl and a boy, but whatever gender the twins were, they would be happy as long as they were healthy.  As soon as all their furniture and belongings were in the house, they went to work on the nursery.  With a double-crib and a HUGE changing table/wardrobe to put together, it was better to start early.  The babies were coming any day, so they needed to have their room ready.  After all, Harry and Louis could just sleep on the mattress on the floor if need be.  Babies can’t do that. 

It took about four hours and a lot of frustration (and, therefore, two beers apiece), but they finally got the babies’ furniture together and put away all the clothes and had moved onto putting the kitchen together.  It was a little overwhelming all at once – the bottle kits and the wedding china all sprawled out everywhere, looking for their places.  But, once Louis made Harry focus on one task at a time, things went a lot smoother.  Within two days, they had everything but their bedroom and the master bath unpacked, probably because any time they stepped into either room, it ended in sex. It may start with unpacking, but then a pillowfight would happen, and… you know.

It was their fourth day in the house when the phone rang at 3:24 AM.  It nearly scared Louis out of his clothes, but Harry just calmly reached for the phone, answering with a groggy, “Hello? And Niall, I swear, if this is you again drunk dialing me, I’m getting a new number.”

“Hey, Harry. It’s actually Zara.  My doctor had me on bedrest, you know? Well, they don’t want me to wait any longer or it could be bad for both the twins and me, so they’re going to induce me at 5 this morning. Can you be here?”

Harry’s alarmed expression worried Louis, who was standing at the end of the bed.

“Yeah, yeah, Zar. No problem.  We’ll get up and get moving now, and I’ll call you when we’re on our way to get your room number and everything.  Again, thank you!!!! We’ll see you before five.”

Lou cocked his head as Harry hung up the phone. “Jesus, Harry, please tell me nothing is wrong?”

“Calm down, babe,” Harry responded, getting up and hugging his husband. “Everything is fine.  The twins are coming a little earlier than anticipated, but it’s to make sure they stay fine.  Lou, we’re having babies today.” He pulled away a little bit to look at Louis’ face.

His eyes bugged out a little. “Today?” he asked in a small voice. Harry nodded. “Well, do we need to leave then?” Harry nodded again. “Well, I guess I should pack clothes and stuff then, I mean, for the babies?” Harry nodded for a third time, understanding Lou was a little shocked and he needed to be gentle with him. 

“Yes, baby. Go pack a couple of outfits for them, and change clothes, and then I’ll meet you downstairs.  I’m going to go pack us food and our phone chargers and stuff.”

They got packed and put everything in their SUV, including carseats, bottles, and all the other wonderful baby stuff they needed, and headed into the city to the hospital. 

The traffic on the freeway was a little backed up, as usual, but it was stressing Harry out more than ever.  He was getting impatient, honking and cursing under his breath, but then he remembered his husband in the seat beside him and looked over to him. 

"Hey, Lou. How are you doing, babe?" He asked softly. 

Louis smiled. "Haz, we're having babies today. How could I be anything but excited? Well, nervous and excited?" Hearing how happy Louis was about the babies really helped to calm Harry down, so they got to the hospital by 4:45 with no more incidents of road-rage on Harry's part.  They got through the front desk and up the two floors to Zara's room. She was delighted to see the boys, all smiles, even though she was getting ready to go through childbirth for their benefit.  She really was just the happiest person, and the boys were grateful that she was so graceful about the entire situation.  She was just a blessing.

"Hi, Louis! Harry! I'm so glad to see you. Mom has to work today - she's got this big presentation, and she'll be here after 10:00 - but I haven't seen a familiar face since yesterday! I'm so glad I don't have to tell some stranger about my vagina again without someone else here. This is just so scary to do alone, yeah?"

Harry set their bag on the floor and went to hug Zara. "Yeah, I know honey. But you don't have to. We'll be here the entire time. If you need anything, we're here to get it for you." He pulled a juice box out of the duffel bag and popped a straw in it, extending his arm to Zara. "Here, drink this. It'll keep your sugar up so you don't get fatigued."

Zara took the juice box and looked at it, but didn't drink from it. "Harry, they told me I can't have this. I'm only allowed to have ice chips and water until the babies are here," she said, sounding disappointed.

"Zara, that's bullshit," Harry said. "They don't want you to eat a lot because of the risk of c-section with twins, but a little apple juice is not going to hurt you. I swear, I didn't take 16 hours of childbirth education classes and become a certified doula for nothing.  Just don't go eating an entire turkey or anything."

Zara nodded quietly and sipped on the apple juice.  About ten minutes later, the doctor came in and started her pitocin drip.  By the time Zara's mother arrived, they were well on their way to having two babies. She was dilated seven and a half centimeters when the midwife came in to check on her again.

"How are you feeling Zara?" she asked. 

"I'm okay," she smiled.  "Contractions hurt, but I expected that. I'm just ready for a sandwich soon," she laughed.

The midwife nodded and studied the vitals on the screen. "Well, that might be a little while. You were progressing well, but it seems like your progress dropped off. The babies' O2 levels have dipped just a little, and we're going to keep an eye on it, but if you aren't back on track in a couple hours, we're probably going to have to perform a cesarean."

Louis immediately looked to Harry, wondering what to do. He was trying not to panic; he knew labors stalled all the time. He knew she could start progressing again any second, but he still seemed to be drawn to panic. He reached for Harry's hand and held it tight. 

"Baby, what do we do?" He asked quietly. 

"There's really nothing we can do, except stay calm and wait."

One hour passed, then two, and Zara hadn't dilated any further, so the doctor made an executive decision based on the babies' oxygen levels. They were going in for an emergency c-section. Before they could go into the cold, surgical room (which was a far cry from a comfortable birthing situation), they had to sterilize themselves and dress up in these weird surgical getups, complete with hair nets and shoe covers that made their feet look cartoonish.  by the time they had done that, the doctors were rushing around, running for surgical tools, and Harry could tell something was wrong. Louis looked at him.

"Harry, why do you think they're running around like that?"

"I don't know. They could just be in a hurry and need the room. We'll have to go and find out."

They walked into the middle of the chaos with their midwife, immediately finding out the problem through various shouts back and forth.

"We need to go now, or their oxygen could drop dangerously low. I need a scalpel, now." 

Harry squeezed his husband's hand, trying to keep him from losing it. He knew the doctors knew what they were doing, but it was pretty terrifying to hear things like "dangerously low," and "scalpel," when you're talking about your children.  He knew that the odds were in their favor, since both babies had near fully-developed lungs the last time they visited the doctor, and they were both projected to weigh about five-and-a-half pounds or better, but it was just so nerve-wreaking to be watching doctors cesarean your babies out in a cold, stainless steel room because they were at risk. 

Harry and Louis held onto each other tighter than probably was healthy, but they were both so high-strung at the moment they couldn't let go. They needed each other.  The moment the first baby emerged, they let a little bit of air out, but he (yes, it was a boy) wasn't crying.

"Come, on, baby. Please, cry.  For the only time in your life, I'm going to beg you to scream," Louis said, tearing up. 

Then they heard it. He cried.

"Congratulations, it's a boy," the doctor said as a nurse suctioned out his lungs and clamped, then cut, the umbilical cord.  He delivered the second baby, a girl, who was crying as soon as she hit air. "This one's a sister," he sad. They took them back to the NICU as soon as they were wiped off and wrapped to make sure their lungs and everything were functioning properly.

Louis and Harry hugged for what seemed like an eternity outside the sterile surgery room, waiting for news about their babies.  They eventually went to wait with Zara in recovery, and the doctor came back a little bit after Zara woke up.  

"Well, the good news is, they are both fully-developed. Lungs and everything.  You really dodged a bullet on that one. But, before  you get to take them home, we're going to have to make sure they eat well, so if  you want to follow me down to the nursery,  you can try feeding."

Louis looked to Zara and her mother. "Will you be okay if we go?" Zara smiled and nodded.

"Yes, Louis. Go. I'm probably just going to go back to sleep anyway. I'm still realllly tired."

So the pair followed their OB down to the nursery and had to sterilize all over again.  But as soon as they stepped in the room and saw their children, nothing else mattered.  The babies ate fine, so they would be able to leave the next morning, and they could take them down to Zara's room in the maternity ward for the rest of the night.  They had to decide on names, however, because the little stickers on their little wheely baby beds still read "Baby Styles-Tomlinson."

"I thought you had decided," Louis moaned once they were back in a maternity room. "We were going to name them Louise and Harriet!!!!!"

"Louis, we can't name a boy Harriet."

"Ugh, you're so difficult."

Harry smiled. "Why not Henley and Lindza?"

"Lindza sounds like a girl's name, Harry," Louis replied.

"Only to you, Mr. I-Can't-Appreciate-Classic-Names," Harry mocked.

"Okay, I have an idea," Louis smiled.

\---------------

They brought the babies home the next day, making sure to give them lots of skin-to-skin contact and carrying them around the house in one of those baby slings next to their chests. It took Niall and Liam aback a little to see their best lads walking around the house with little monkeys strapped to their waists, but they got used to it pretty quickly.  Louis and Harry even let them hold them, after they sterilized up to their elbows, of course.

"So, Lou, what are their names?" Niall asked.

"Well, we had a really hard time deciding, but we named him Henry Liam, and we named her Loren Niall."

Niall's eyes got as big as saucers. "Really? Guys, I'm so honored you'd name your baby after me."

"Well," Harry said, looking down at his feet. "You both have been here through everything, and never left, even when it would have been easier than staying our friends, so we felt like it was just right." 

"Well, hopefully we'll be here long enough to frustrate you when you call for your kids in the kitchen and one of us shows up instead," Liam replied, smiling. "But really, thanks guys." 

"Don't mention it," Louis responded.  "It really felt right."

And that night, when Harry and Louis laid down in their still-packed up bedroom, listening to the babies breathing on the monitor, their entire lives felt right, because it all led them to this perfect moment.


End file.
